Section: EU Today (EU)
Ukraine’s Road To Recovery: One Soldier’s Inspirational Story
According to UN figures, the conflict in Ukraine has seen at least 10,000 killed in action, with many more wounded. In 2015, Vadym Sviridenko lost both his arms and legs after his convoy was ambushed. Vadym has since undergone extensive rehabilitation treatment both in the United States and in Ukraine, where he now runs marathons. Vadym tells his...
The War Artist – A Novel Set In Europe’s Forgotten War
What makes a man betray his country? Maxim Butchenko’s novel The War Artist explores this question against the backdrop of a war forgotten by Europe, writes Stephen Komarnyckyj . As I write this introduction in February 2017 shells are raining down on a city in Adviyivka, a European city. A 24-year-old ambulance driver has been killed...
Russia Again Confirms That It Sponsors Terrorism
The European Union has reacted strongly to the tragic death on Sunday April 23rd, of a US citizen, a paramedic attached to a Special Observation Mission of the European security watchdog, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine. Two other members of the Mission, one identified as German and Czech citizens, were...
Allegations of “clandestine network” in Council of Europe body
The European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) has published a report which alleges a “clandestine network” of MPs, Armenian officials and NGOs financed by the Soros Foundation within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). According to the report, which builds on a previous “Armenian Connection” investigation...
Exxon Mobil Will Not Be Exempt From Russia Trade Sanctions
US oil giant Exxon Mobil will not be allowed to resume drilling in Russia after US President Donald Trump vowed to uphold sanctions, The BBC has reported. The US Treasury Department said that, after talks with Mr Trump, it would not waive trade sanctions on Russia for US firms seeking to restart work. It had been reported that Exxon, the...
Pope denounces “shame of humanity becoming inured to daily scenes of bombed cities and drowning migrants”
In his traditional Easter message, Pope Francis has denounced “oppressive regimes” in an apparent call for restraint urged world leaders to prevent the spread of conflicts, as tensions rose in North Korea and Syria. His Holiness, marking the fifth Easter season of his pontificate, said Mass before tens of thousands of people under exceptional...
Through the looking glass… Introducing Episodic Memory
Episodic Memory (2007) is one of those books which seem to be written in hologrammatic ink. As you turn the pages you see butterflies drifting over the Steppe or hear a dog barking in a summer that faded fifty years ago. The novel begins with a description of debris and a breaking mirror in a Ukrainian farmyard. The accumulation of detail...
Boosting judicial independence in Ukraine highlighted in report
Prison overcrowding in several European countries and boosting judicial independence in Ukraine are among the issues highlighted in a new Council of Europe report. Improving the “control of lawfulness of detention” in Russia is another matter raised by the 47-nation Council of Europe. The CoE published its latest annual report on the...
Leading Ukraine political leader calls for peaceful resolution to Donbass conflict
The man dubbed Ukraine’s “Donald Trump” has called for a peaceful settlement to the ongoing war in the east of the country. While Vadim Rabinovich brands Russia’s annexation of Crimea as “intolerable” he insists that the bloody conflict that has claimed over 10,000 lives since 2014 can only be resolved at the negotiating table....
Tusk appeals to EU to remain “united”
European council president Donald Tusk has appealed to the EU to remain “united” after Brexit talks began this week. In a speech, Tusk said, “Five days ago in Rome, right before signing the Rome Declaration, I said, “Europe as a political entity will either be united, or will not be at all. Only a united Europe can be a sovereign Europe in...
